A new DirectX badge will begin to appear on graphics hardware: it is called DirectX 12 Ultimate and indicates support for "all next-generation graphics hardware features," Microsoft announced today.

DirectX is a collection of application programming languages (APIs) that developers use to communicate with hardware. You can think of it as a kind of pipe that connects software (especially games) and hardware. So far, DX12 is the latest version and was supported in Windows 10 (and Windows 7 for some games).

Now the distinction belongs to DX12 Ultimate. This is not an API overhaul, but a compilation of the latest technologies in one. This includes, among others, DirectX Raytracing (DXR), Variable Rate Shading (VRS), mesh shaders, and sampler feedback.

One of the reasons Microsoft is doing this is to unify the experience between the PC and the Xbox Series X, which is scheduled to launch on November 26, 2020 (Thanksgiving Day).

"These features represent years of innovation by Microsoft and our partners in the hardware industry, and DX12 Ultimate brings them together in one common bundle to unlock next-generation graphics on PC and Xbox Series X. It provides developers with one key to unlock the next generation of graphics on PC and Xbox Series X," Microsoft explained.

The main benefit for gamers is that they can see at a glance if the graphics card they are about to buy supports all the latest features; finding the DX12 Ultimate badge is key, and hardware manufacturers will be quick to promote it, I I suspect it will be.

On a related note, Microsoft touts this as a way to guarantee "future feature support. Of course, there is no such thing as future proof, but DX12 Ultimate should remain relevant for at least the next few years.

We can expect to see the DX12 Ultimate badge on games as well. According to Microsoft, DX12 Ultimate games will also run on regular DX12 hardware, but only because some features may not be available.

"It is very important to note that DX12 Ultimate will not affect the compatibility of games with existing hardware that does not support the full features of DX12 Ultimate. In fact, next generation games that use DX12 Ultimate features will continue to run on non-DX12 Ultimate hardware. While such hardware will not offer the visual benefits of the new features, depending on the hardware specifications, they can provide a very compelling gaming experience in next-generation games," Microsoft explained.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of this is the accelerated adoption of real-time ray tracing. Both Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 will support this feature, as will a handful of PC graphics cards. AMD's next-generation Radeon parts Later this year, more cards will support ray tracing when AMD releases its

"By unifying the PC and Xbox Series X graphics platforms, DX12 Ultimate serves as an empowering force for the entire gaming ecosystem. No longer will each cycle operate independently! By the time the Xbox Series X is released, there will already be millions of DX12 Ultimate PC graphics cards around the world with the same feature set, driving rapid adoption of the new features." "When the Xbox Series X brings a new wave of console gamers, PCs will likewise benefit from this vast array of DX12 Ultimate-capable hardware, Microsoft stated.

On the software side, DX12 Ultimate will be rolled out to Windows 10 in the next major feature update (20H1). Furthermore, Nvidia has already announced support for this API; AMD will do the same once the next generation of Radeon cards are available.

To learn more about the components that make up DX12 Ultimate, visit Microsoft's DirectX blog.